Blog for the RepRap project at www.reprap.org - a project to create an open-source self-copying 3D printer.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

First filament extrusion run with added filler...

Just to show my son how the filament extruder worked I decided to try a mix of polymer and marble dust in a short extrusion exercise for the system. The mix was, by volume, three parts polymer to two parts marble dust. That works out to roughly 60% filler. This mix put a lot more torque requirement on the polymer pump to operate, so much, in fact, that the joint between the electric screwdriver and the auger bit failed.